Thursday

Feb 8, 2018 at 3:00 AM

Just get through the next two months. That’s the idea, right? It’s the dead of winter, the holidays are done, and all that’s left is the wait for those first crocuses.

Some music can help - and there’s plenty. It’s time to be inside anyway, and no place better to get out of the weather than a room full of good musicians. Here’s a sampling of concerts coming up - mostly outside of the metro area - before the equinox. Only eight weeks to go.

Salem Classical continues to program unusual music and ensembles. The fluid chamber group Some Assembly Required (Feb. 9) performs music of Rzewski, Schreker and a world premiere by Tyler Kline; St. Andrew’s Chamber Trio (Feb. 24); BoCoCelli (March 14); Boston Artists Ensemble (March 19) and violinist Chase Spruill (March 30) round out the busy calendar. Most concerts are $10 and are held at Old Town Hall (www.salemclassical.com).

The New England Philharmonic doubles up on its commemorations March 3, honoring conductor Richard Pittman’s 20th anniversary with the NEP, and the centenary of Leonard Bernstein’s birth as well. The bracing program at Tsai Performance Center includes dance variations from Lenny’s ballet score to "Fancy Free," the area premiere of the late Steven Stucky’s Symphony, pianist Jeffrey Swann tackling Busoni’s "Indian Fantasy," and a world premiere of the orchestral version of Eric Nathan’s "Paestum" (www.nephilharmonic.org).

Rockport Music warms up the winter with recitals by Seong-Jin Cho, the multi-prize winning South Korean pianist (Feb. 25); the great Kirill Gerstein at the piano with cellist Clemens Hagen (March 16); and soprano Dawn Upshaw with Gilbert Kalish accompanying, on April 22. These promising programs are only a taste of new artistic director Barry Shiffman’s ideas, which will be unveiled in full with the upcoming announcement of the summertime chamber music festival (www.rockportmusic.org).

Cellist Jacques Lee Wood and violinist Annie Rabbat highlight Music at Eden’s Edge’s Feb. 26 program at the Peabody Institute Library, with a study of music arrangements. The program repeats March 5 at Peirce Farm in Topsfield (www.edensedge.org).

The Newburyport Chamber Music Festival teases its substantial summer programming with an off-season house party: a piano recital April 7 with Anna Stoytcheva (www.newburyportchambermusic.org).

The Salem Philharmonic closes its four-concert season on Feb. 4, a program that features a new work by composer Robert Bradshaw (www.salemphilharmonic.org).

Beverly’s revitalized Cabot Theatre features mainly jazz and rock performances, but it is home to Symphony by the Sea as well. Maestro Donald Palma’s ensemble joins in the Bernstein centennial celebration March 4 with selections from "West Side Story," as well as Beethoven’s Eroica symphony, which Bernstein introduced to a generation of music lovers in his Young People’s Concerts (www.symphonybythesea.org).

Francisco Noya leads the New Philharmonia Orchestra at First Baptist Church in Newton Feb. 10 and 11. The programs mines the rich French/Russian connection, with songs by Rimsky-Korsakov and Rachmaninov (with soprano Yelena Dudochkin), and orchestral works including Debussy’s "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun" and Stravinsky’s "Firebird" (www.newphil.org).

Noya also brings his Boston Civic Symphony to Jordan Hall March 4, with a world premiere from Argentinian composer Daniel Doura, and selections from "La Bohème" with soprano Gabriella Reyes de Ramírez (www.bostoncivicsymphony.org).

The all-physician Longwood Symphony also comes to Jordan Hall on March 10 with a Beethoven program. Anna Polonsky tackles the first piano concerto with maestro Ronald Feldman, who also leads the orchestra in the Coriolan Overture and the Pastorale Symphony (www.longwoodsymphony.org).

A string quartet comprised of Boston Symphony Orchestra players comes to Framingham’s Nevins Hall on March 25, performing works by Brahms, Beethoven and Sibelius as part of the BSO’s community chamber concerts (www.bso.org).

Peter Cokkinias’s MetroWest Symphony Orchestra goes American on Sunday, Feb. 11 at Natick High. "Star Wars" and "Harry Potter" from John Williams’s soundtracks highlight the program, along with Bernstein’s "West Side Story" and works by Copland, Ives and Gershwin (www.metrowestsymphony.org).

Claflin Hill Symphony Orchestra goes to Spain - or at least brings Spanish music to the Milford Town Hall - on March 3, with two soloists: guitarist Daniel Salazar performing Rodrigo’s popular "Concerto de Aranjuez," and cellist Johann Soults in Strauss’s "Don Quixote" (www.claflinhill.com).

Keith Powers covers music and the arts for GateHouse Media and WBUR’s ARTery. Follow @PowersKeith; email to keithmichaelpowers@gmail.com